Committee blocks bag ban; vote still possible
A committee of the Ulster County Legislature has blocked a proposed local law that would ban single-use plastic bags by retail outlets, but the sponsor of the bill vowed to force the proposal to the full Legislature for a vote.
The proposed law, known as the Bring Your Own Bag Act, was defeated 3-3 in the Laws and Rules Committee when Legislature Chairman Ken Ronk — who sits as an ex-officio member of all legislative committees but doesn’t always attend all committee meetings — cast the deciding vote against the proposal. A majority is required for a resolution to pass.
The proposed law would ban use of single-use plastic shopping bags in Ulster County, would require stores to charge 5 cents for recyclable paper bags provided to customers, and would fine stores that violate the law. Restaurants located outside of grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores or food marts would be exempt from the law.
The 5-cent fee seemed to be a prime sticking point for opponents of the law.
“I understand the virtue of eliminating plastic bags,” said Ronk, R-Wallkill. “I don’t agree with it, but I understand it. I don’t agree with the virtue at all of charging a fee for paper.”
Legislator James Maloney, R-town of Ulster, agreed, calling the fee a “tax” and saying it would hit the poor the hardest.
Supporters of the law, though, said that without the fee, consumers simply would swap plastic for paper and one environmental problem for another.
“We really need to think about how we start buying our products,” said Legislator David Donaldson, DKingston.
Legislator Joseph Maloney, D-Saugerties, rejected the notion that the fee would disproportionately hurt the poor.
“It’s almost like you’re assuming if you’re low income, you can’t remember your canvas bag,” he said.
At a public hearing in June, only three of 22 speakers opposed the proposed law. Opponents included the head of the New York State Association of Convenience Stores and the store manager of ShopRite in the town of Ulster.
Legislator Tracey Bartels, a nonenrolled voter from Gardiner who caucuses with Democrats and who co-sponsored the resolution with Donaldson, said she will file a petition to discharge the measure from committee to go to the floor of the Legislature for consideration. Such a petition will need the signatures of at least eight legislators.